Search alerts

The Byron and Tweed Shire lockdowns will be lifted as scheduled on Wednesday, 28 September 2021.

Stay-at-home orders for the Yass Valley in New South Wales have been lifted as scheduled. However, Cowra, in the state's central west, will remain in lockdown due to the risk of ongoing transmission, with lockdown now scheduled to end at midnight on 05 October 2021.

NSW has revealed a three-stage plan towards reopening, with key dates to look forward to in October and December. Eased coronavirus rules will be made available to those who have had two vaccine shots once that cohort makes up 70 per cent of the state’s population, and more freedoms will become available at 80 per cent. At 80 per cent, the new activities that will be made available for those who have had two coronavirus jabs will include having 10 visitors at home, playing community sports, and standing up and drinking at pubs. There will be a third reopening stage in December – and those who haven’t been vaccinated will have to wait until then to take advantage of some of the freedoms.

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr has released the territory's roadmap for reopening. Mr Barr said "subject to the public health risk remaining relatively stable over the next two weeks, lockdown will end on October 14 at 11:59pm." Mr Barr said two households visitors would be allowed from October 1, while outdoor bootcamps would recommence. Lockdown would be lifted as planned in mid-October, Mr Barr said, which would see much of the ACT economy brought out of hibernation with limited capacities, increased numbers for indoor and outdoor gatherings and a gradual return to workplaces.

The Surf Coast LGA and the city of Greater Geelong will exit lockdown at 11:59pm on Sunday, 26 September 2021.

Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan has announced that the state of Victoria will be moved to an 'extreme risk' category from 12:01am on Wednesday, 29th of September 2021. Travellers currently in Victoria with an approved G2G pass have been urged to return to WA before this date.

Double vaccinated Victorians from Sydney will be able to return to Victoria from Thursday, September 30. "So Victorians in an extreme risk zone, which is basically Sydney at this time, will be eligible to return home to Victoria if they are double vaccinated," said Premier Daniel Andrews. He says those people will have to have a negative test, 72 hours prior to leaving New South Wales. Those people will have to do 14 days of quarantine but that quarantine can be done at their home.

The United States to ease travel restrictions on all fully vaccinated foreign visitors starting in November, the White House said Monday, relaxing a patchwork of bans that had begun to cause fury in Europe and replacing them with more uniform requirements for inbound international air passengers.

Lockdown will lift in the Gilgandra and Brewarrina LGAs from midnight on Wednesday, 22 September 2021, and the Narromine LGA from Saturday, provided Narromine has no cases or sewage detections before then. Lockdown will also lift in Albury and Lismore at midnight on Wednesday, 22 September 2021.

Border restrictions on nonessential travel have been extended again, this time through Oct. 21, White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said Monday. The restrictions were first implemented in March 2020 and have since been extended on a monthly basis.

The Ballarat lockdown will end at midnight on Wednesday, 22 September 2021. The region will align with all other regional areas not in lockdown. Masks must still be worn indoors and outdoors and no one can come to your home to visit. Point Lonsdale in greater Geelong will also be under the same rules as the borough of Queenscliff.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard has announced that Byron, Tweed and Kempsey will go back into a seven-day lockdown from 5pm on Tuesday, 21 September 2021, after a COVID case from Sydney was infectious in several communities.

Increased border restrictions will be reinstated for the LGAs of Byron Shire and Tweed Shire, as NSW announce an increased COVID-19 public health risk. Byron and Tweed LGAs will become part of the restricted NSW border zone from 1:00am on Wednesday, 22 September. Border zone residents who have been to Byron and Tweed LGAs will only be allowed into QLD for limited essential purposes. QLD residents may only return to QLD if they have entered a restricted area for limited essential purposes. Those entering QLD from a non-restricted LGA, who must transit through a restricted LGA, can do so if they transit, without stopping, using private transport for no more than two hours.

Cowra is NSW will be placed into lockdown from 5:00pm on Monday, 20 September 2021. Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said anyone who was in Cowra from Monday, 13 September 2021, "regardless of where they are, must adhere to the stay-at-home requirements."

Coronavirus restrictions in New Zealand's largest city, Auckland, will be eased slightly from Wednesday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told a news conference. The city, which is at the centre of the latest Delta variant outbreak, will move to alert level 3 from alert level 4 starting at midnight on Tuesday, Ms Ardern said. Schools and offices will still remain closed at level 3 but businesses can operate contactless services. The rest of the country will remain at alert level 2, she said.

Coronavirus-related restrictions on UK-UAE air travel routes will be eased further next month as part of an overhaul of Britain's controversial traffic light system. The UAE was initially put on the UK’s travel red list on January 29, meaning that all UK arrivals must quarantine in a government-mandated hotel for 10 days. But, in a further easing of travel rules, the UK removed the amber list altogether, enabling the UAE to move to its new non-red list.

Victoria Health Minister Martin Foley has announced immediate action to combat outbreaks in regional Victoria, with Greater Geelong, the Surf Coast Shire and Mitchell Shire to enter a seven day lockdown from 11:59pm on Sunday, 19 September 2021. The rules will be the same as those in Melbourne and Ballarat, minus the curfew.

Victoria Chief Health Office Brett Sutton has outlined changes coming to the NSW-Victoria border from 11:59pm on Sunday, 19 September 2021. The 66 LGAs plus Jarvis Bay that are not locked down currently in NSW, will be downgraded from extreme risk to Red Zone, meaning that Victorian residents have an entitlement to apply for a Red Zone permit and will be able to return to Victoria. They will be required to quarantine at home and undergo regular testing for 14 days and travellers cannot have been in one of the remaining extreme risk zones in the previous 14 days. For all but one cross-border LGA (Albury, which is in lockdown) there will be a downgrading from extreme risk zone to a red zone, meaning cross border travel will be allowed.

The NSW Government and the Commonwealth have announced plans to begin a trial of home quarantine in Greater Sydney that will start within weeks. The pilot, to be operated and monitored by NSW Health and NSW Police, will trial a seven day home quarantine program for around 175 people. Currently, people coming to NSW from overseas must quarantine in a hotel for 14 days. Participants in the pilot must have had both doses of a TGA-accredited COVID-19 vaccine. The participants will be selected by NSW Health, based on a risk assessment framework, and may include some NSW residents, some non-Australian residents and some Qantas air crew. The isolation period will be reduced from 14 to seven days. The pilot program is being run in partnership with the Commonwealth Government.

The Hilltops local government area will enter a week-long lockdown from 6:00pm on Friday, 17 September 2021, NSW Health has confirmed. The stay-at-home orders apply to anyone in the areas, or anyone who has been in the Hilltops LGA including Young and surrounding areas since September 3, and the Glen Innes LGA since September 13.